My Brother's Keeper
by ejb
Summary: Missing Scene From Attack of The Alligators


DISCLAIMER: I acknowledge that Gerry & Sylvia Anderson created Thunderbirds and I am grateful that I can borrow the characters to write this story.

Grateful thanks to Quiller for being my beta reader and for the encouragement she has given me

MY BROTHER'S KEEPER

(Missing Scene from Attack of the Alligators)

"Any news yet Virg?" Scott Tracy asked anxiously as he waited with the scientists outside of their ruined home.

"Gordon has just found the phial, Scott, it is intact, and not a scratch on it, he says." Virgil replied.

"Thank heavens." Dr. Orchard answered. "If that crazy fool Culp had caused it to be smashed, I dread to think of the consequences."

"Well it is all over now." Scott said. "I don't think there are any more of those reptiles around."

"It is just as well because this place is going to take some fixing up." Hector McGill said as he turned to survey the damage wreaked on the house by the mutated alligators.

"I think the electricity supply is off so we can't offer you and your colleagues coffee and we could all do with some." Dr. Orchard answered. "We don't know what we would have done without you all, we would probably be dead by now. Thanks a million."

"It's all part of the service." Scott answered. "We have coffee making facilities in Thunderbird Two, come over in the boat and have some with us. After that one of my buddies is good with electricity too, I will get him to take a look at the system before we leave."

Meanwhile Virgil was concerned about Alan. Scott was unaware of his youngest brother's foolhardy action that had caused him to be knocked unconscious and he was still out there under the tree he had bumped into whilst luring the huge reptile away from the house. Not only that, _if it were not for Gordon's sharp shooting, he might_ _have been eaten alive by the beast_. If he had head and neck injuries it was too risky carrying him back alone. Virgil braced himself to tell Scott the news while Gordon was returning in Thunderbird Four with the phial of theramine.

Virgil decided to call Scott on the wristcomm rather than the radio for fear of alarming his father if he heard about Alan's condition.

Scott was on board his hover bike and heading towards the huge green shape of Thunderbird Two when he felt his wristcomm vibrate. Thinking it odd he stopped and activated it and saw Virgil's anxious face appear on the screen. "What's up Virg? I am just on my way over to you?"

"Get over here fast, I need some help with Alan." Virgil replied. "I will fill you in with the details when you get here.

Virgil closed the link and went to get a hover-stretcher, neck brace and the first aid kit out of Thunderbird Two's sick bay leaving Scott puzzled as to what was going on.

Scott reached Thunderbird Two a few minutes later and saw the rescue equipment Virgil had ready. "What's going on Virgil, where is Alan?" Scott demanded to know.

"Just follow me Scott and I'll show you." Virgil replied.

"He did WHAT!" Scott exclaimed when he was told the reason of Alan's unconscious state. "Of all the crazy things that kid has done that has to be most foolhardy one yet. Couldn't you or Gordon have stopped him?"

"Come on Scott, this is Alan we are talking about here." Virgil replied. "He took no notice of either of us."

Scott emotions were a mixture of concern and anger at his little brother's actions. "I could kill him for this, what is Dad going to say when he finds out?"

"You know what he will say, what he always says to Alan." Virgil replied. "And Alan will take it like water off a duck's back, and get in a temper and sulk a bit then things will be back to normal again."

The two of them soon reached their still unconscious brother and Scott quickly checked him over. "Well his pulse is strong, looks like he has a concussion. He is going to have one almighty headache when he wakes up."

Just then Alan began to stir and groan a bit. He half opened his eyes and the light seemed to cause him pain so he instantly closed them again.

"Alan can you hear me?" Scott asked him gently but firmly. "Come on now, answer me if you can hear me."

Alan forced open his eyes again and looked straight into the concerned dark blue eyes of his eldest brother. "What happened Scott, how did I get here?" Then he remembered the last thing he saw was the fast approaching jaws of the huge alligator that was still lying not far off in a grotesque twisted shape, on its back with its legs in the air. His face turned white with shock and said. "The alligator, it was going to kill me!" He grabbed Scott's arm and heaved himself up and promptly vomited just missing Scott by a fraction.

Scott could see that Alan's injuries were not too serious after checking his neck and after wiping his mouth for him he offered him some water then gathered him up in his arms while Virgil applied a dressing to his head wound.

"That was a brave thing you did, little brother, but I don't know what Dad is going to think about it when we have the de-briefing." Scott told him. "So you had better have a good explanation for him."

Scott and Virgil got Alan on to the stretcher and got him back to the sick bay in Thunderbird Two. Gordon had been worried too about Alan and was relieved that his injuries were not too serious. While Scott and Virgil were attending to him Gordon went over to retrieve Alan's hover bike.

As he approached the fallen bike he could not help but see the still form of the giant alligator he had shot just in time before it killed Alan. He shuddered as he remembered just how close he had been to losing his little brother and was thankful he had managed to shoot the huge beast first.

Virgil gave Alan a mild sedative to ease the pain in his head and he was soon asleep again. Scott made coffee for everybody including the four occupants of the house who had been invited over into the passenger deck of Thunderbird Two.

"It's going to take weeks to carry out the repairs to the house." Dr. Orchard told them as they surveyed the unbroken phial of theramine Gordon had found safely in the murky waters of the swamp. "Good job this was recovered, all our other samples have been lost when the laboratory got smashed up. I think we can still harvest some more of the plants from around here to make some more though. There are some rooms around the back that are not too badly damaged, we can make a makeshift laboratory out of them, but I think we will be safer sleeping in the storehouses outside until the house gets fixed up . I wonder how the electricity is though, the lights were flickering on and off under the attack."

"Before we go, we will help bring some beds and things in there for you." Scott told him. Then seeing his red-haired brother fast approaching on Alan's hover bike he added. "Here is your electrician coming now. He can check the power while we are doing that."

After putting the hover bike away Gordon joined the rest of the party and Virgil handed him a mug of coffee. "We were just telling these people how good you are at fixing broken electric cables." Virgil said to him. "They need the power to the house checking before we go."

Gordon gave the 'Here I go again' look to Virgil. While Scott smiled as he remembered how Gordon's quick method of restoring electricity to broken cables that had saved both themselves and the Fireflash pilot from being killed that time when a saboteur caused havoc with the E.P.U. in the wing of the plane. It had been a dangerous situation for Gordon too and he ended up with badly burned hands for his efforts.

"I'll report to base to inform them of the situation." Scott said, as he moved away from the passenger deck of Thunderbird Two. He wanted to speak to his father in private but was not going to tell him just yet about Alan. He would do that on the way back so his father would have the minimum amount of worry.

After he finished his coffee Gordon went into the sick bay to see Alan who was still fast asleep but breathing steadily. He wanted to reassure himself that Alan was indeed alive and safe after that terrible shock. "Oh Alan, I told you to come back, why did you not listen to me?" Gordon said as he gently stroked Alan's arm. "I could easily have missed shooting that thing and…

"You didn't." Virgil said. "Stop thinking about what you might not have done Gordy, he is there safe and alive because of you."

"I did not hear you come in." Gordon told him.

"Obviously not." Virgil answered. "I did not see you come in here either. I came to check him over before we go over to the house to move some of the furniture to the undamaged parts to make those people more safe and comfortable."

"He looks okay." Gordon said. "He is going to wake up with one hell of a sore head though."

"And he has to face the wrath of Dad too." Virgil added. "It was a brave thing to do though and Dad is still going to end up proud of him too at the end of the day after he has cooled down a bit. Anyway it is his birthday tomorrow so it will be all forgotten by then. I had a quiet word with Brains and he said that after a good sleep he should be fine and back on his feet by the time we finish here and get back."

"Good because that is one birthday party I am pleased to be going too." Gordon said as Virgil pulled him into a hug.

"Me too." Virgil smiled. "It will be great to see him opening his presents, I wonder what surprises he has waiting for him. Come on let's help these people have somewhere comfortable to live in while their home gets fixed up, then we can go home."

THE END


End file.
